Past Events › Dance

Frederick Ashton's The Dream, based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, is one of the most universally admired and artistically satisfying of all ballet adaptations of the playwright's work. Using Felix Mendelssohn's beloved music, arranged by John Lanchbery, Ashton's version of the play is a miracle of dramatic concision, giving us the familiar characters of Titania and Oberon, the four confused lovers, Puck and the rude mechanicals in a taut but lyrical one-act re-imagining of the story set in Victorian times. Ashton's…

George Balanchine’s Apollo is one of the signal moments in both the choreographer’s oeuvre and in the legacy of cultural modernism. The famous collaboration between Balanchine and Igor Stravinsky produced some of ballet’s most legendary works, and perhaps none was as groundbreaking nor realized their aims of a neo-classical art form, as this 1928 ballet. The work almost singlehandedly established a new aesthetic that brought the language of classical ballet into a modern context, merging the past with the future in a…

Few books of any kind are as unique and have left such an imprint on culture as Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Beneath its surface blend of fantasy, nonsense, outlandish characters and a vivid dreamworld—an irresistible blend, especially for children—the book has a subterranean reach extending into the realms of philosophy, language, psychology and even mathematics. This has always made it an attractive text for other creative artists and choreographers are no exception. The renowned British choreographer Christopher Wheeldon has…

An Exquisite Spectacle of Musical Genius & Tormented Soul The immortal music and agonized life of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky are cast in a bold new light through the eyes of Russian choreographer Boris Eifman. Returning for their fourth anticipated Toronto engagement, the dramatic intensity and exquisite artistry of Eifman Ballet invites viewers into the brilliant mind and tumultuous struggles of the unparalleled composer, Tchaikovsky. Hailed as “a swirling, vivid panorama of emotions and settings” (New York Times) this emotionally gripping production,…

However you choose to see William Forsythe—willful provocateur, poet of the anti-ballet, master of anarchic beauty—there is no doubt that he has extended the reach and possibility of modern dance as few other contemporary choreographers have done. The three works that compose this programme exemplify the extraordinary range and flavour of his work. The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude is a short, but fiercely demanding work created by the choreographer in 1996 for his Ballet Frankfurt company. Set to the final movement…

A frothy blend of whimsical comedy, romance and the delights of the Parisian Belle Époque in all its effervescent splendor, The Merry Widow is popular ballet at its finest. Based on the 1905 operetta of the same name by Franz Lehár, The Merry Widow sets out to entertain and amuse at every step and never puts a foot wrong. The story imagines a fictional Balkan principality, Pontevedro, which is on the brink of economic disaster. In an effort to prevent certain ruin, a…

Giselle is the quintessential Romantic ballet with a haunting story of love, betrayal, madness and remorse that has captivated audiences since its Paris premiere in 1841. Nearly 180 years later, the title role is still among the greatest in the classical repertoire, demanding exquisite technique and emotional range in equal measure. The National Ballet of Canada performs the widely celebrated staging by Sir Peter Wright after Marius Petipa. Casting Giselle Svetlana Lunkina (November 6 at 7:30 pm/November 9 at 2:00 pm) Elena…

Join us to celebrate our 15th anniversary season with the Toronto premiere of The 9th!, a 21st century perspective on Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. This bold, provocative work pays homage to the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, in a fitting tribute to the thrilling physicality of Beethoven’s iconic music. Roberto Campanella, the award-winning choreographer of the Oscar-winning film The Shape of Water & the company's Artistic Director, and four-time Dora Mavor Moore nominee Robert Glumbek explore social…

Artists have long been fascinated with the Greek myth of Orpheus, the gifted musician who rescues Eurydice from death only to lose her again in a moment of doubt. At its core, theirs is a story about love, trust and the redemptive potential of art. With Orpheus Alive, Choreographic Associate Robert Binet brings a fresh perspective to the myth, casting Orpheus as a woman, Eurydice as a man and the audience as gods of the underworld who decide their fate.

Etudes Set to piano exercises by Carl Czerny, Harald Lander’s Etudes turns the spotlight on ballet class as the foundation for brilliant performances. Over the course of one act, the dancers progress from simple barre exercises through increasingly challenging steps and variations to a thrilling finale. Created in 1948 for The Royal Danish Ballet, Etudes is Lander’s most popular work, a showstopping celebration of ballet technique. Piano Concerto #1 Alexei Ratmansky’s Piano Concerto #1 is the third part of his Shostakovich Trilogy, which pays tribute to…

Crystal Pite, the Olivier Award-winning choreographer of Emergence creates a brand new work for The National Ballet of Canada. Angels' Atlas, the highly anticipated world premiere comes as Pite gains international acclaim for riveting work that is both aesthetically inventive and deeply human. Often manipulating large groups of dancers, she is fascinated not only with pattern and space but also with the emotional register of the body and the stories that it holds.

Alexei Ratmansky created his stunning adaptation of Romeo and Juliet for The National Ballet of Canada in 2011 to open the company’s 60th anniversary season. The production is true to the colour and character of 16th century Verona and jampacked with dancing – fast footwork, expressive pas de deux and gorgeous ensemble pieces blending classical and folkdance elements. Romeo and Juliet is pure Ratmansky, a thoughtful and visually striking revival of one of ballet’s great narrative works.

Toronto Premiere Guillaume Côté, Principal Dancer and Choreographic Associate at The National Ballet of Canada, is one of the most electrifying and in-demand dancers of his generation. Côté is also an incisive multidisciplinary artist, celebrated for his choreographic talent displayed in the riveting and complex creations, Frame By Frame and Le Petit Prince.Featuring the music of Swedish composer Mikael Karlsson and infused with theatre and technology, Côté’s latest cutting-edge contemporary dance creation is a ground-breaking work that explores forced displacement and the human…

Set to Tchaikovsky’s glittering score, Swan Lake is the epitome of classical ballet, beloved the world over for its lyricism, musicality and masterful choreography, and for a love story that is both symbolic and intimate. Artistic Director Karen Kain gives renewed emphasis to the romance of Swan Lake – to Prince Siegfried and his beloved Odette – in a brand new staging, choreographed after Erik Bruhn’s landmark version in celebration of her 50th Anniversary with The National Ballet of Canada.